Extreme Cross-Asset Class Correlations

The global equity market outlook for the rest of the year appears, more than usual, to be lacking direction. September has been marked by a healthy rally (MSCI World is up 7.2% month-to-date), but we are just back to levels of early May and still down since the start of the year. A forward-looking indicator like VIX, after dipping to a low of 15.58 in mid-April and spiking to a high of 45.79 in mid-May, is now back to 22, just two points above 20, where it began the year.